Botanical/commercial classification: Ajania pacifica/Decorative Pot Mum.
Varietal denomination: cv. xe2x80x98Chasixxe2x80x99.
The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum, botanically known as Ajania pacifica, and hereafter is referred to by the cultivar name xe2x80x98Chasixxe2x80x99.
The new cultivar of the present invention was created at Nuaillxc3xa9, France during the course of a controlled breeding program. The seed parent (i.e., the female parent) was an unnamed plant of the species, and the pollen parent (i.e., the male parent) was designated xe2x80x9892/27/3xe2x80x99. Neither parent was patented in the United States. The seeds resulting from the cross were sown and small plants were obtained which were physically and biologically different from each other. Selective study resulted in the identification of a single plant of the new cultivar of the present invention.
It was found that the new Charm Chrysanthemum cultivar of the present invention displays:
(a) a short, bushy, compact, well-branched, and generally spherical growth habit with short internodes,
(b) profusely forms attractive small daisy-like blossoms having yellow-green disc florets and one row of white ray florets,
(c) forms decorative small dark green foliage with a light greyed-green margin on the upper leaf surface,
(d) forms yellow pollen when the blossoms are mature, and
(e) an ability to grow well in pots.
The new cultivar can be grown singly or in clumps in pots. It also can be grown in the landscape. The yellow-green and white blossoms blend nicely with the gray-green foliage. The plant is self-branching and the internodes are short. Pinching is helpful to further enhance branching and produces a large number of shoots; however, such pinching is not necessary since the plant already is inherently well branched. The natural flowering time is late-October.
The new cultivar can be readily distinguished from its parental plants. More specifically, the female parent displays whitish-yellow ray florets, a less busy growth habit, and is natural flowering approximately three weeks later than the new cultivar. The xe2x80x9892/27/3xe2x80x99 male parent forms dissimilar larger flowers with more petals that are slightly squared and serrated, and more typical foliage that lacks a light greyed-green margin on the upper surface that is possessed by the new cultivar. No other closely related cultivar is known to Applicant.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by the use of cuttings as performed at Nuaillxc3xa9, France, in a controlled environment has demonstrated that the characteristics of the new cultivar are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual propagation.
xe2x80x98Chasixxe2x80x99 has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions to date. Accordingly, it is possible that the phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in the environment, such as temperature, light, day length, contact with pesticides and/or subjection to grown regulation treatments.